Gaseous electric sign



Dec. 15, 1936.

C. D. MITCHELL T GASEOUS ELECTRIC SIGN Filed Feb. 28, 1 954 o'.A.R

Inventors c0 MITCHELL IQHAN Att'y Patented Dec. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES 2,064,442 GASEOUS ELECTRIC SIGN Clyde D. Mitchell and Otto A. Rieman, St. Louis, Mo.

Application February 28, 1934, Serial No. 713,274

7 Claims.

Our invention relates to gaseous electric signs such, for example, as neon signs and the like, and more particularly to signs which hang from supporting arms extending from the wall of a building. In prior constructions'of this type a box-like structure is suspended from a supporting supported thereon luminous glass tubes, the usual transformer and each side of the box having supported thereon luminous glass tubes, the electrodes of whichextend into electrode housings mounted in openings in the side of the wall and project into the interior of the box-like structure. This type of suspended sign is very bulky and heavy, costly to manufacture, and none too pleasing to the eye especially in the day time. c

' One of the objects of our invention isto construct a gaseous electric sign of the suspended type in which luminous tubes are mounted upon each side of a single supporting plate, and in which said supporting plate and electrical transformer are connected together and suspended from the supporting arm.

Another object of our invention is to construct a suspended gaseous electric sign which is economical to manufacture, pleasing in appearance, and light in weight.

Other objects of our invention will 'become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing showing two embodiments thereof, in which Figure 1 is a side view of our improved suspended sign; Figure 2 is a view of the lettering on the opposite side of the sign plate; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side view showing a modification; and Figure 5 is a view of the opposite side of the sign plate shown in Figure 4.

Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3 in detail, the numeral 1 indicates the wall of a building or other suitable support from which outwardly extends a hollow arm 2, preferably formed in the shape of an inverted U. A Weatherproof transformer housing 3 is suspended within the U part of the arm by means of a pair of brackets 4. The ring ends of the brackets which encircle the arm 2, are sufficiently large to enable the transformer housing to swing with respect to the arm, although in some instances, if it is not desired to have the housing swing, the rings .may tightly grip the arm, and suitable braces may be used'to make the housing rigid with the arm. The brackets are prevented from shifting on the arm by means of collars 5 secured to the arm byset-screws or other suitable means.

The transformer casing has housed therein an electric transformer 6 which is electrically connected to a suitable source of electricity (usually 110 volts) by means of electrical conductors 1, these conductors passing through the hollow arm 5 2, as shown. I p I The sign carrying plate 8 and the means for mounting the luminous tubes thereon, are similar to that shown in the co-pending application of Clyde D. Mitchell, Serial No. 698,408, filedOO- 10 tober 13, 1933. The plate 8 is rigidly suspended from the ends of thetransformer casing 3 by means of a pair of brackets 9, thus producing a single plate sign in which the transformer is not mounted on the plate yet the plate and 5 transformer are rigidly held together and capable of swinging movement in unison on the arm when subjected to winds. The plate 8 may, for example, be made of Bakelite or glass and may also be of a single piece or a plurality ;'of pieces and, although shown in the form of a shield,yit may assume any other form, if desired.

The glass tubing forming the border of the sign is shown as being in two parts Ill and II, the upper and lower ends of which are provided with electrodes, the upper electrode 12 being unhoodedand connected to the output side of the transformer. The border tubes are supported in proper position on the edge of the plate by suitable supports I3 of well known construction.

The copy selected to form the wording of the sign is the word CAFE which is mounted upon each side of the plate-8. As illustrated, the word CAFE upon one side of the plate is formed of two pieces of glass tubing and upon the other side it is formed of one piece of glass tubing. The ends of the copy tubing and the lower ends of the border tubing are provided with hooded electrodes M. The border tubing and the copy tubing are all connected together in series by means ofdouble electrode receiving housings l5 preferably mounted upon one side of the plate only. Each of these housings, as best shown in Figure 3, comprises a pair of electrode receiving sockets with electrically connected contacts l5 in the base of the sockets for forming an electrical connection between the electrodes. The housings are mounted on the plate so that the axes of the sockets are parallel to the surface of the plate and the open end opens downwardly, thus preventing water and 1 other foreign material from being held therein. The border tube I ii is connected to the letters CA by a housing. !5 and the border tube II .is connected to the letters .FE by another hous- '55 ing I5. The electrodes at the ends of the tubing forming the word CAFE extend through openings in the plate 8 and. are connected to letters CA and FE by other housings i5. The tubing forming the letters is supported on the face of the plate 8 by supports l3 in the same manner as the border tubing.

If the attachment of the arm 2 to the wall is not sufiiciently strong to support the sign, guy wires l6 may be attached to the outer collar 5, as shown.

Although we have shown and described a specific sign, the form of the plate, border tubing, lettering, and the transformer housing may be changed when desired. It is to be noted that our invention completely eliminates the expensive box construction and at the same time provides a double-faced sign. The'transformer' is not mounted on the plate, thus permitting the entire surface of the plate to be used for the sign. The construction, however, is such that the transformer is movable in unison with the plate when the plate swings on the arm during a wind.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5, we have disclosed a suspended sign in which the transformer housing and the plate are laterally spaced from each other and each separately suspended from the arm. The arm 11 extends out from the wall I and its outer end is additionally supported by the guy wires I6. The transformer housing I8 is suspended from the arm l1 adjacent the wall l by means of a bracket IS. The sign plate 20 is suspended from the outer end of the arm I! by brackets 2|, the plate being prevented from shifting by the collars 5.

The word CAFE on each side of the plate 20 is formed from a single glass tube, the electrode at the end of E on one side of the plate extending through an opening and being connected to :the electrode at the end of C on the other side of the housings [5, as shown. The end of the glass tubing on each side of the plate is connected to the transformer 22 by means of electrical conductors 23 housed in conduits 26 and 25, housing I5 being used between the conductors and the tube electrodes. The transformer is connected to a source of electricity by the lead-in wires 1 Ordinarily the conduits 24 and 25 between th transformer housing and the plate are rigid enough to cause the housing and the plate to swing together, but in cases where they do not, a connecting bracket 26 may be used. The plate 20 may be provided with a border in the same manner as is done in Figure 1 if such is desired.

The modification shown in Figures 4 and 5 permits the transformer and the plate to swing in unison on the arm in a manner similar to that shown in Figure l.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an outdoor gaseous electric sign installation in which luminous indicia is displayed on opposite sides of the sign, an upright support, a supporting arm projecting outwardly from said upright support, an opaque plate, an electrical transformer, means for securing the transformer in juxtapositionwith the plate, means for suspending the transformer and the plate from the supporting arm, units of luminous tubing mounted on each of the surfaces of the plate and provided with electrodes, said tubing conforming to the indicia desired and being laterally spaced from the plate surface upon which it is mounted, luminous tubing mounted on the edge of the plate for forming a border and provided with electrodes, and means for electrically connecting the tubing on the surfaces and on the edge in series and to the transformer, said means comprising electrode receiving housings secured to at least one surface of the plate.

2. In an outdoor gaseous electric sign installation in which indicia is displayed on opposite sides of the sign, an upright support, a supporting arm projecting outwardly from said upright support, an opaque plate, an electrical transformer,

means for securing the transformer in juxtaposition with the plate, means for suspending thetransformer and the plate from the supporting arm, units of luminous tubing mounted on each of the surfaces of the plate and provided with electrodes extending parallel to the surfaces, said tubing conforming to the indicia desired and being laterally spaced from the plate surface upon which it is mounted, and means for electrically connecting the tubing in series and to the transformer, said means comprising electrode housings secured to at least one plate surface and having their electrode receiving sockets opening downward.

3. -In a gaseous electric sign installation, an upright support, an inverted U-shaped arm extending outwardly from the support, an electric transformer, means for suspending the transformer within the U of the arm, a plate, means for suspending the plate from the transformer, glass tubing mounted on the surface of each side of the plate, and means for electrically connecting the tubes in series and to the transformer.

l. In a gaseous electric sign installation, an upright support, an inverted U-shaped arm extending outwardly from the support, a transformer housing containing an electric transformer, means for suspending the housing within the U of the arm, a plate, means for suspending the plate from, the transformer housing, glass tubing mounted on the surface of each side of the plate, and means for electrically connecting the tubes in series and tothe transformer, said means comprising electrode housings secured to the plate and having the axes of their electrode receiving sockets parallel to the surface of the plate.

5. In a gaseous electric sign installation, a supporting member, an electric transformer, means for hinging the transformer to the supporting member, a plate, means for hinging the plate to the supporting member and laterally adjacent the transformer, means connecting the transformer and the .plate whereby they will swing in unison, glass tubing mounted on the surface of each side of the plate and provided with electrodes, and means for electrically connecting the tubing to the transformer.

6. In a gaseous electric sign installation, an upright support, an arm extending outwardly from the support, a transformer housing containing an electric transformer, means for hinging the transformer to the aim, a plate, means for hinging the plate to the arm independently of and laterally adjacent the transformer housing, means connecting the housing and the plate whereby they will swing in unison, glass tubing mounted on the surface of each side of the plate and provided with electrodes, means connecting the tubing in series, and means comprising a pair .of electrical conductor containing conduits for connecting the tubing on both sides of the plate to the transformer.

7. In an outdoor gaseous electric sign installation, an upright support, a supporting arm projecting outwardly from said upright support, an opaque plate, means for hinging the plate to the arm, an electrical transformer, means for securing the transformer in juxtaposition with the plate and to swing with the plate on the arm, units of luminous tubing mounted on and in spaced relation to the edge of the plate and provided with electrodes extending upwardly and parallel with the surface of the plate, and means for electrically connecting the tubing in series and to the transformer, said means comprising electrode housings mounted on the plate and having their electrode receiving sockets opening downwardly and receiving the upwardly extending electrodes.

CLYDE D. MITCHELL.

OTTO A. RIEMAN. 

